Early part of my career, I lived in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. I had heard of Niagara Falls and seen it in movies but never had a chance to see it until about seven years ago. I knew what to expect – something spectacular. Friends who had visited Niagara had told me that it was an out of the world experience. There were some of them who had been there about once a year for the last five years or so and they were planning to go there again next year. So the expectation from Niagara was very high. When I went there though – what I experienced was more than spectacular. It exceeded the “already high” expectation that was set in my mind. There was that magic and wonder that you can’t really explain in words. I knew I would be amazed but I could never imagine the level of amazement. It was way beyond my wildest imagination.
With that as the background, let us imagine that one of your friends (let’s call him John) is talking “something” VERY positive about you to his friend (let’s call him Chris.) Chris is now intrigued and he wants to meet with you. Remember that, right now Chris has a high expectation about that “positive thing” that John told him about you. John arranges a meeting between you and Chris. So here comes the day of the meeting. Chris comes in with a high expectation and as he starts talking to you about that subject, he is blown away by your brilliance on that particular topic (whatever it is.) In other words, he just experienced your “Niagara Factor”
Niagara factor is your something that is hard for people to explain or describe in its full intensity. They can tell nice things about it but they still can’t do full justice to what you bring forth. It is something that will amaze people that you know for a long time.
Sadly, many people don’t know what their “Niagara Factor” is. For these people, their success is their enemy. They are already successful without taking full advantage of their “Niagara Factor” so they may not even know that they have a problem. People who come in contact with them see that there is something “special” but it is too obvious for them to mention.
In the next few days, think whether you have been ignorant of your “Niagara Factor.” If you are, it is not too late to fix it. By being conscious of this, you can channelize some of your energies to make it even better.
Good luck!
Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)